Eva P, 2004. “Eva is the fourth amongst her five siblings. When we first met, I was intrigued by her beauty and personality. She was not a typical teenage girl. She played hard, running and climbing and always a bit disheveled.  When she spoke, it was always with a gentle tone and solicitous manner unusual for a person her age.” (Photographer Monika Merva is a first generation American of Hungarian descent. Speaking Hungarian and having family in Hungary proved essential in making this intimate and long term project documenting the City of Children possible. Merva tells the bittersweet story of children growing up together, removed from their own families. The City of Children in Fot is a product of the 1950′s Hungarian social welfare system, when collective solutions to private problems were emphasized. When families broke down– from conflicts, violence, neglect, etc., the City of Children was there to take them in. Parents and family members can visit, but the children live collectively under the care of adult guardians.) High-res

Eva P, 2004. “Eva is the fourth amongst her five siblings. When we first met, I was intrigued by her beauty and personality. She was not a typical teenage girl. She played hard, running and climbing and always a bit disheveled.  When she spoke, it was always with a gentle tone and solicitous manner unusual for a person her age.”

(Photographer Monika Merva is a first generation American of Hungarian descent. Speaking Hungarian and having family in Hungary proved essential in making this intimate and long term project documenting the City of Children possible. Merva tells the bittersweet story of children growing up together, removed from their own families. The City of Children in Fot is a product of the 1950′s Hungarian social welfare system, when collective solutions to private problems were emphasized. When families broke down– from conflicts, violence, neglect, etc., the City of Children was there to take them in. Parents and family members can visit, but the children live collectively under the care of adult guardians.)

eastern europe photography